Viral infections can have serious adverse effects on individuals and society as a whole. In addition to fatal viral infections such as ebola, even non-fatal infections can have serious societal and economic consequences. For example, human noroviruses (NV) are the most common cause of epidemic acute gastroenteritis worldwide with an estimated 19-21 million cases each year in the United States including 56,000-71,000 hospitalizations and 570-800 deaths (Hall et al., Emerg. Infect. Dis. 2013 August; 19(8):1198-205).
Accordingly, development of an effective antiviral treatment effective against viruses is important to improve the health of infected individuals and as a public health measure to prevent outbreaks of other pathogenic viruses.